A/N: It's 4am and I am baked. I banged out this chapter before my buzz broke (taking Rasp's
advice.) So excuse me if my reviewer's response sounds beligerent or this chapter makes
no sense.
The Waiver 12
"The problem is, if I angle too steeply, we become like a human arrow. We will pierce through the atmosphere and dart into the surface completely obliterating the ship . . . well, what's left of the ship. If I angle it too shallow, we will impact on the atmosphere without penetrating. Again, the ship will be destroyed."
There was complete silence.
"Menderash? You know when I said to tell me things if you think I don't know them? Well, some things I just should NOT know, okay?"
Menderash risked a look away from his console, looked at me confusedly, muttered something about 'pitful humans and their bi-visual handicap', then turned back to his work.
From the floor, Jeanne moaned and slowly sat up, clutching her head with both hands. Cassie and Tobias each grabbed an arm and gently helped her to her feet.
"Oh, vhat happened?"
Marco's eyes brightened, seeing his usual victim was well enough to continue his annoyance.
Jeanne took one look at Marco's face and moaned again. "I think I'm going to lie back down, yes?"
She started to slump back to the floor, but Marco darted to her side and carefully pulled her back up. "Oh no you don't. We're about to crash land. You'd better get into one of the chairs and strap yourself in. Here, let me help you-"
She quickly wretched her arm away. "I think I can sit without your hands-"
I tuned them both out. I'm sure this morning's (slash-day-slash-night-slash-whatever's) rant was amusing, but I had learned that those two would never just agree.
Strange, Jeanne claimed she couldn't stand Marco, but she always kept the argument going. As if she didn't know that all she had to do was say nothing back and Marco would be bored with her.
I focused back on Menderash and the confusing display of lines, numbers and Galard forteless marks. "Suggestion, Sir: You should sit in one of the chairs very soon."
"Soon? When do we hit the-"
I felt a moment of flight before I smashed into what I think was the wall . . . could have been the viewscreen, I didn't hear anything break, but those screensare quite durable.
The scene around me blurred, then dimmed. I caught a flash of Cassie fighting to pull the emergency restraints off that had automatically strapped her in upon impact. She managed to get one arm free, trying to get out and help me.
I weakly waved a hand at her, wanting to tell her to stay in her chair.
"I'll be fine . . ." I croaked through a rough throat. I felt a warm liquid work it's way down my forehead and contour around my left eye. Such a familiar feeling, blood. Strange to feel it while in human form. I've mostly only had it while in mo-
I passed out.
CASSIE
Jake lay limp in the corner as he had a million times before. A dark part of me deep down was thinking, "When can we rest? When will I get to stop seeing him hurt?"
He had gestured for me to stay and muttered something, but there was no way I was just going to sit there and watch the acceleration of the ship push him against the wall.
I felt something come loose in my Emergency strap and it yanked free, propelling me onto the floor. Hitting the ground with a loud CRACK sound and a sharp pain in each kneecap, I started to crawl my way over to him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw everyone but Menderash and Tobias trying to do the same. I had slipped out of it easily, because of how short I was.
Thing was, I wasn't fighting to get towards him, I was fighting to stop from falling ON him. The enertia or whatever of the ship was pulling right down to him, apparently, we were flying/falling backwards. Carefully, I clung to fixtures and consoles half-sliding, half-dangling from each.
Finally, I held onto the mantel of the viewscreen and leaned over his prone body. It wasn't too serious a hit. Probably a concussion though . . . and that blood looked a little too dark for comfort. A deep cut? Most likely.
I decided to think a little more about that later and concentrate on Jake. While I was staring at him dumbly thinking "Okay, I got here, now what?" Santorelli slinked in next to me, near Jake's feet.
"If nothing's broken, I'll help you heft him up into a seat."
I gave him a quick fracture check. "No, he's clean . . . I think." No matter how sure Ithought I was, there was always a possibility that I had missed something in my haste to get him to safety. Before Menderash did who knows what else with the gravity.
Looping one arm around Jake's waist, Santorelli slowly pulled himself towards the captain's seat with his other. Marco made it over to the chair and helped pull when Santorelli passed him up. Working hard against the skewered gravity, they managed to get him in the chair, when Tobias finally was unstrapped and morphed enough to help.
With a hand from Tobias, I made it back to my seat. I couldn't stop myself from staring at his limp body, limbs loose and slumping in his chair.
JAKE
Very slowly the world crept back as my vision returned. I found myself half-hanging out of my chair with a pounding headache. Justifiably, considering I was just smacked silly by a ship. I know what your expecting: The typical Star Trek scene with sparks flying out of various consoles with smoking billowing into the corridor.
But it was suprisingly quiet and calm on the bridge. I did notice some electrical burns on the main console and a few scorch marks around it. Realising I was completly alone, I gingerly removed my restraints and relied on my wobbly legs to hold me up. I managed to stand and tip-toe over to the conjuction junction. The hatch light was flashing, showing that the outer hatch was un-sealed.
"Oh my- we landed?" I whispered to myself. I slowly openned the inner hatch and let out the breath I was holding unconsciously.
Peering around outside, I was in the air for about five seconds before- "Oooopf!" I stumbled backward under the weight of an armful of Cassie. I held her tight for a moment and then let go. Marco was staring.
Everone was there. Menerash had some bad burns on the left side of his face, which explained the scorch marks on the pilot's console. Jeanne had morphed and demorphed to relieve the swelling in her head.
I got all the info from Marco. We had made the "hard impact landing" and Menderash performed a systems check and an enviroment scan of the surrounding countryside. The air was breathable.
The first thing I noticed about our pit stop, was the local vegitation. The grass was a reddish- gold and springy, almost. The rolling hills spanned for miled around us. No tree or sign of civilization in sight. The only thing that drew any concern, were these large holes in the ground.
Like molehills, they were obviously planned. In a grid-like formation, a hole was placed about every fifty yards. I couldn't tell how deep they ran though, because there were none close enough for me to check out without possibly putting myself at risk.
I knew before I even asked what the answer would be:
"So Menderash? Any chance we can fix our little toy ship without spare parts?"
"No, sir. We'll need supplies."
I nodded. Of course. How else would we be forced to be at the mercy of people we knew nothing about and now had to confront. I just hoped we hadn't landed in the front yard of whoever fired at us.
Grabbing some equipment from Rachel, namly Shredders, Interpretters and emergency survival gear, we nervously crept towards a molehill. Turns out, about half-way down the hole, a metal tubing began and continued by about three feet before reaching a metal platform with gears and pullys protuding from every non-floor surface.
I turned from the lip of the hole, will I was leaning over while lying on my belly, I glanced up at the others, squinting against the golden sun. I remebered that star from space. It didn't look so bright with the viewscreen's auto-dimmer on.
"Well, what do you guys think? Underground colony?"
Marco shook his head. "Colony? Most likely. But it could also be a big mine, of a sewer vent, hell, we could be standing on a giant buried dump and that's a vent for the fumes."
I paused and considered. "Menderash, can we attach a cord to that scanner and lower it down or something?"
"Yes, Sir, but that is not nesassary. I will simply launch the probe." Without warning, Menderash leaned over my shoulder. Aiming his scanner down the hole, he pressed a button on the device, shooting a small ball covered in microchips and black panelling. The ball hovered for a moment, then shot through a hole between the platform and it's tubed metal walls. In less than
three seconds, the ball blasted back through and shot directly back into the hole of the scanner, like the cord-return on a vacume.
Menderash worried at the scanner for a moment or two, punching the small buttons. "Clumsy human digits . . . Ah, here we are." he frowned, "It seems the air down there is just as human- habitable as up here. In fact, the content is even cleaner then this. Whatever is down there, the ventalation system is incredible."
I nodded. "So it's most likely people down there."
Marco shugged. "That or we just ran into a Taxxon colony."
That sent shivers down my spine. I remembered the Taxxon colony of earth FAR too well. Plucking six straws of grass, I carefully fisted them and held them in front of everyone.
"Um . . . Jake? That's six, there's seven of us here." Tobias pointed.
I smiled, sheepishly and added another to the bunch. "Sorry, force of habit. Good eyes."
"Okay, volunteers. Whoever gets the long straw goes down the tube."
End Chapter 12
Reviewer's Response:
Rawk: Ummm . . . right. And Marco can be with whoever the hell I want. Shuddup or I'll
write a Jeanne/Marco NC-17! lol Talk to you later.
Alikat: Thanks for taking the time to read through all the chapters and join our little
collective here. Be sure to keep telling me your ideas and opinions, even if they're harsh. I
always listen to my reviewer's imput (I just don't always agree. hehehe)
RaspberryGirl: Well, the way I figure they've been friends since they were fetus's, so they MUST
have found a sort of rythm in their conversation. So I'm glad you liked that part. I'm going to
try to move this along, but I don't want to loose content, as a result of hurrying the plot line
along with less detail.
Cheetor654: (Hands Cheetor a copy of "The Waiver" and a spoonfull of smack) Glad to have you
back. Careful, it's addicting.
Okay, the next one, I'll just put all of his responses into one group.
Prometheus:
1. Yeah, I try to open my chapters right in the middle of the chapter. I get right to the
immediate rising action, without a lot of introduction. I'm glad it works.
2. Ugh. About the typos: blame my beta reader (I have none)
3. chokes Killing me won't stop the pain! Arg! Go eat something and leave me alone.
4. Yes, the chapters are getting shorter. This is because whenever I start a new fic,
I work and re-work the first chapter so it is perfect and draws attention. This makes the fic
chapter huge. Afterwords, I get more and more casual about my writing and worry more about
character development than gaining new readers. Thus, (yes, thus) shorter chapters.
5. Thanks. But the accent is getting aggrivating, so I'm slowly going to faze it out.
6. Bwa-ahahaha! I changed the f'n POV anyways! Whatcha gonna do 'bout it? Tee-hee
ChocalateKitty: Done changing your nickname yet? Yeesh. About beta: e-mail me if you're still
interested and I'll send you the next chapter of "Hear No Evil" to give your opinions while I'M
writing the next chapter of the waiver.
Rachel9466: Okay, but only because you told me too.
Wow, I think that's the longest response I've ever written.
EARLY